RE: [amsat-bb] Re: [ans] ANS-181

["Tom Clark \(W3IWI\)" <w3iwi@xxxxxxxx>]

Vince:

> Do we still have the blueprints for phase 3C, or did those
> get thrown out
> with all the other mode B stuff?  Actually, a modernized AO-7
> would work
> just fine if it were in a high orbit.  Mode B isn't
> everything. A few hours
> of mode B a week on a working AO-40 would have been good
> enough for me.

There are lots of things that COULD be done and these are good ideas. The
configuration of any old satellite COULD be reconstructed since there is no
black magic contained therein, although most people associated with the
design/fabrication of an old payload would recommend modernization with
current components.

[As an example of why you want to update the designs, AO-7 does not have ANY
microprocessor in it. It was launched several months before a small upstart
semiconductor manufacturer (Intel) announced their brand new, revolutionary
4004 "computer on a chip" and at a time that 256 bytes of memory was a LOT.
I would hope that anyone suggesting an AO-7 clone would take such factoids
into consideration.].

>From my years of experience trying to help AMSAT to build & launch
satellites, the critical steps to accomplish something (perhaps with some
revision to the order that they might occur. For example (1) and (2) might
be swapped or happen in parallel) like you suggest are :

   (1) Identify a friendly and affordable ride to take you there.
Then based on the ride characteristics,
   (2) Find some clever people who can design the hardware.
Then
   (3) Find some good technicians to build the hardware defined in step 2.
And along the way,
   (4) Find enough $upport so that the designers and builders don't have to
bear the entire weight out of their own pockets.

In many ways, step (1) has proven to be the biggest hurdle these days. In a
long-lost universe, a long time (20-30 years) ago and far away,  AMSAT's
Jedi Knights were able to find rides for satellites like AO-5,-6,-7,-8; NASA
was launching a lot of Government R&D satellites, especially targeted
towards earth resources and weather programs.

Then the Europeans came along with some similar opportunities on Ariane. We
(AMSAT) kept telling the world about how useful small, low-cost satellites
could be. In the past decade, a number of our "friends" have developed
funded programs and the small number of available and affordable launches
has dwindled (and those that are available now co$t real $$$). To paraphrase
an old adage, "There's no such thing as a free launch!".

AMSAT is, and always has been, an "us" organization. The "we the people"
involved in these steps always come from the ranks, and they appear because
they hunger for the challenge of building something that works in space like
they planned.

To those who ask "Why don't you guys build xxxx?" my answer for a lot of
years has been "Why aren't you doing it? Are you willing to volunteer to
take a significant role in making your xxxx happen?"

Or to quote Pogo, "We have met the enemy and he is us!".

73 de Tom, W3IWI


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